Região Sudeste: Rio de Janeiro (by Anali Rivas)
How to deny that Rio de Janeiro is one of the most trending
cities in Brazil when you can feel, taste and enjoy of rich culture and
history? Rio de Janeiro is the second
largest city of Brazil and indeed one of the most visited cities in the
Southern Hemisphere. The population of Rio de Janeiro is estimated to be 6.45
million. Who are the citizens that contribute
to the population? Portuguese but also Afro- Brazilians, Asians, and Europeans.
These ethnicities contribute to the traditions, history, and culture of the city
and its surrounding areas.
Economy and Industry
Rio de Janeiro has a great economy. They are prosperous in
manufacturing, finance, trade, commerce, and many other sectors. All of these
are a significant source of employment for the residents and seasonal residents
of Rio. It is important to recognize that Rio de Janeiro is considered the
second most important industrial area after Sao Paulo.
Copacabana Beach
Copacabana beach is one of the most popular attractions of
Rio, and in fact one of the most famous beaches in the world. Copacabana is in
the south zone of the city and this beach is 2.5 miles long. It is a Copacabana tradition to host the most famous New Year celebration in Brazil. Around 2 million people
from all over the world attend to Copacabana New Year’s Celebration. In
addition, this beach is also famous for hosting international sports events,
such as volleyball and beach soccer championships.
Copacabana Palace and Architecture
Copacabana Palace is
a hotel that was designed by Joseph Gire a French architect. The design of the
hotel is from the nineteenth and early twentieth century. The main building consists
of 148 rooms and it overlooks the Copacabana beach. Rio de Janeiro welcomed Copacabana
palace in 1923. This hotel represents
luxury and style, it has eccentric floors and very expensive chandeliers. With
no doubt, this hotel is one of Copacabana’s most important and famous landmarks
of Brazil.
Christ the Redeemer
This statue of Jesus Christ was created by French Sculptor Paul
Landowski. It was made of concrete and soapstone. This famous statue is in Corcovado
mountain in the Tijuca Forest National Park. Christ the Redeemer is a symbol of
Christianity. It is a tradition for citizens and visitors to visit the statue all year long but especially during the Catholic holidays. The statue is a reminder that most Brazilians are born and race
catholic. and it is one of the New Seven
Wonders of the world. People from all
over the world and Brazilians are constantly visiting the statue. According to
Madson Araujo author of Rio de Janeiro Travel Blog, “over 1,800,000 people
visit the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro each year.”
Sugarloaf Mountain
Sugarloaf mountain is one of the most famous attractions in
Rio de Janeiro Brazil. The mountain is a peak that rises 396 meters high. It is famous for its cableway and the extensive
360-degree view of the city. If you feel adventurous hop in and you will be
able to enjoy the view of Copacabana beach, the incredible statue of Christ
the Redeemer and the nearby neighborhoods.
Tim Maia
Tim Maia was a famous songwriter and singer of bossa nova,
funk, and jazz. Tim Maia was responsible
for introducing soul to Brazil. He was born in Rio de Janeiro in 1942.
Samba
Samba developed gradually in the 20th century in
Rio de Janeiro. It is one of the most well- liked dance styles and music of
Brazil. Thanks to famous Brazilian singers, samba became popular internationally.
Alfredo da Rocha Vianna Jr helped solidified the sound and harmony of samba.
Carmen Miranda was a famous samba singer and actress. She
was among the artists that helped samba become popular internationally. In 1939
she was invited to participate in a Broadway play, by 1940 she was
participating in her first Hollywood movie. She was well known for the fruit
hat she always wore in her Hollywood movies. Before her death, she expressed
that she wanted to be buried in Rio de Janeiro. She died in 1955 at the age of 46.
Rio de Janeiro Carnival
The city’s biggest party!!! We can trace back the famous Rio
de Janeiro festival back to the 1800s. This festival is very famous for the eccentricity
of the costumes, floats and samba dancers. Every year millions of citizens and tourist
gather on the streets to enjoy the parade. The samba parade is held on the Sambodromo. Many
Samba schools compete and represent a school and or different regions.
Feijoada
One of the popular and traditional dishes of Rio de Janeiro is prepared with
salted beef/ pork and black beans. The name of this typical dish is feijoada. Does it remind you of a typical dish from your culture? We have to remember that food is tradition and culture and Rio de Janeiro has much of this.
Climate
Rainfall is persistent during the months of December to
March. Expect very hot and humid summers and sunny/ warm winters. After all the
city does have a tropical savanna climate.
Question
Question
What customs or traditions from Rio de Janeiro remind you of your own? How and why? (Any similarities with your customs or traditions?)
Resources:
Rio De Janeiro Population 2019. (2009). Retrieved May 20, 2019, from http://worldpopulationreview.com/world-cities/rio-de-janeiro-population/
Meyer, A. (1970, January 01). Brazil.org.za. Retrieved May 24, 2019, from https://www.brazil.org.za/rio-de-janeiro-city.html
Rio de Janeiro. (2019, May 29). Retrieved May 24, 2019, from https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rio_de_Janeiro
Picone, K. (2015, July 14). The Rio De Janeiro Carnival Proves That Brazil Knows How To Party. Retrieved May 25, 2019, from https://allthatsinteresting.com/rio-de-janeiro-carnival
History of samba. (n.d.). Retrieved May 24, 2019, from http://www.sambassadorsofgroove.org.uk/history-of-samba.html
Carmen Miranda. (2019, May 09). Retrieved May 23, 2019, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carmen_Miranda
Geiger, P. P., & Schneider, R. M. (2017, September 21). Rio de Janeiro. Retrieved May 24, 2019, from https://www.britannica.com/place/Rio-de-Janeiro-Brazil/People
How to Travel to Rio's Sugarloaf Mountain. (n.d.). Retrieved May 23, 2019, from https://www.travelandleisure.com/trip-ideas/adventure-travel/sugarloaf-mountain-rio
Christ the Redeemer (statue). (2019, April 29). Retrieved May 22, 2019, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christ_the_Redeemer_(statue)
All About Copacabana. (n.d.). Retrieved May 23, 2019, from http://www.ipanema.com/citytour/copa.htm
Brown, S. (2016, September 02). The 10 Brazilian Musicians You Need To Know. Retrieved May 23, 2019, from https://theculturetrip.com/south-america/brazil/articles/the-10-brazilian-musicians-you-need-to-know/
Araujo, M. (2013, September 23). How many people visit Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro each year? Retrieved May 24, 2019, from http://www.myriotravelguide.com/how-many-people-visit-christ-the-redeemer-statue-in-rio-de-janeiro-each-year/
I love the information on samba! I think I am noticing a major merge and influence in samba and dance music, such as house or what some consider electronic. The drums and percussion I heard via the YouTube video are definitely familiar in some festival/popular dance music. I hope I can someday visit this specific city!
ReplyDeleteI can see the similarity between those two! After watching the samba video I really want to learn how to samba! I love the way the culture is portrayed through it.
DeleteBoa Tarde!
ReplyDeleteObrigada for this great post! I loved the part about Sugarloaf mountain. I have always wanted to visit that mountain and I enjoyed the cable car video. I would love to take the cable car ride. Thank you for mentioning Carmen Miranda - she is so iconic! I read a great book loosely based on story called "The Air You Breathe" by Frances de Pontes Peebles. I would highly recommend it for anyone interested in a fictionalized life resembling Carmen Miranda.
Unfortunately, not too many of Rio's traditions remind me of my own. However, some of the traditions related to food and grocery shopping reminded me of when I lived in Chile. We had a lot of seasonal fruit and open produce markets. I think I saw cherimoya in one of the video stills. One cultural similarity I felt was the different types of music that one can hear in Rio. Similarly, I think here in the USA we have music that is inspired by and draws from different ethnics groups and cultural backgrounds.
Adeus!
Thank you for your post, I enjoyed learning about Rio de Janeiro! I especially enjoyed reading about Copacabana Beach. I love the ocean and beaches, and it was nice to learn about Copacabana having a famous New Year's celebration. I'll have to add that to my bucket list! Carnival also is an event I need to add to my bucket list. It sounds like such a fun and lively atmosphere to be a part of!
ReplyDeleteThere doesn't seem to be much crossover between Rio de Janeiro customs and traditions and my own culture. However, the climate sounds familiar! Indonesia has extremely hot and humid summers. Thank you for this informational post!
Olá a todos!
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed a lot to know a little bit of Rio de Janeiro Carnival.
According to my investigation on google the carnaval happens in February. There are two types of carnaval. One is the parade that everyone knows. It's formed by samba schools that compete against each other for the most elaborate and organized parade. People watch the parade from bleachers or balconies. Balconies are more expensive.
http://suamaenaovaivoltar.files.wordpres...
Another type of carnaval is street carnaval. People dress up in costumes (optional) and take part following the parade through the streets of Rio, dancing and having fun. After reading this post make me think about the carnaval that we celebrate in the north of Peru (Cajamarca). One of the most electric Peru holidays, Carnival is a celebration full of music, food, and water! Travelers should expect to get wet during their visit to Cajamarca and are recommended to always be looking over their shoulder from oncoming water balloons. Both children and adults partake in the in the traditional festivities, becoming the most celebrated holiday in the region.
The typical Andean highland ritual of the yunza, also known as ‘umisha’ in the jungle and ‘cortamonte’ in the coastal region, is an important aspect of Carnival. An enormous tree is planted, full of decorations and presents, and people dance around the yunza, as the tree is cut down. The couple that delivers the final cut is then responsible for organizing the yunza next year.
Eu não participei de nenhum dos dois carnavais, mas imagino que deve ser muito emocionante.
Obrigado,
Marite
Fantastic presentation. I really enjoyed the aerial videos of the city, bird's eye view had to be the only way to go to really capture the geographical character of the city. It's amazing how integrated it is into the mountains and forests. Rio is just one of those iconic cities of the world and I think it's what most people think of when they hear mention of Brazil. I know I do.
ReplyDeleteTo be honest I don't think there is a lot about every day life in Rio that is similar to how life is lived where I am from, or at least similar with my own traditions. I think that's a great thing and it's probably the principal reason I love to travel. I often find myself amazed and jealous by how life is lived elsewhere, and although I have yet to visit this city I imagine it being one of those places.
I really enjoyed this post. When I hear about Brazil, I have always heard about Copacabana beach, Carnival and the statue of Christ the Redeemer. I just never knew the exact locations of these places/events. I would also like to visit one of the markets in Rio de Janeiro and try some of the food.
ReplyDeleteOne of the traditions that reminded me of my own was Carnival. When I lived in Louisiana we have a similar parade/celebration every year called Mardi Gras. They have a lot of similarities between the two and I'm sure many of these similarities have been adopted by one another.
Carnaval in Brazil is like Mardi Grass on steroids!
DeleteBoa tarde!
ReplyDeleteI have spent an extensive amount of time in Honduras and there they also have a Christ statue. It is known as "Cristo el Picacho." It sits on top of a large hill inside a national park and attracts many visitors. Every time I see it I think of Rio de Janeiro and that incredible statue, which actually is not a lot bigger than the one in Honduras! I guess my tradition of going to visit El Picacho reminds me of the tradition people have of going to see Christ the Redeemer statue. It is a dream of mine to go and see it so I can compare the two in my mind and really have some appreciation for how massive these statues are! I am a Christian, too, so I love being able to see this statues represented in such public ways.
Boa tarde!
ReplyDeleteThis post was very informative about Rio de Janeiro. In regards to their customs and traditions being similar to mine, my eye was drawn to the music and the different types that are popular in Rio de Janeiro. Growing up in the US there are so many different genres of music easily accesible to us and I grew up being exposed to them by my parents and family. I will definitely have to check out some of Tim Maia and Carmen Miranda's songs. Additionally, since I am Italian, a big part of our culture is food and that also seems to be the case in Rio de Janeiro. I have only ever been to Italy but I would love to visit Brasil and explore all the different foods I could try!
Eu amo Rio de Janeiro. In my opinion, Rio is amazing. It reminds me of my hometown because of carnval. Carnaval is a tradition that we have in Uruguay, too. It is a huge event in Montevideo. In Uruguay, we see Brazil as our big brother. We receive a lot of tourists from Brazil. The food looks delicious and the tourist places seem super charming. Thank you very much for your presentation. You did a great job. Oh, and I love samba, so next time I go to Uruguay, I will stop in Brazil for a couple days, maybe in Rio. Obrigada.
ReplyDeleteOi Lucia,
DeleteI didn't know that they had a carnival tradition in Uruguay as well. I bet it must be pretty similar to Brazil since they are right next to them. I haven't been to south America and I hope to go soon, everything seems so exciting and welcoming.
Olá!
ReplyDeleteAs a photographer, I found the first video that you posted to be particularly enticing with its stunning depictions of the variety of beautiful vistas that can be seen throughout Rio de Janeiro. Such a rich and vibrant city would certainly be a wonderful place to take some pictures! As far as culture is concerned, I especially enjoyed the portion regarding the music of Rio and in fact, I wish you would have posted a video featuring music from Tim Maia because I'm a pretty fan of bossa nova and funk, although samba is certainly terrific as well. Additionally, I found it interesting that two of the city's architectural marvels were designed by French architects as that is not something I would have expected.
To answer your question, I seem to be facing a similar issue as some of the other students that have commented on this thread - there simply don't seem to be very many similarities between the culture in Rio and the culture where I live in Arizona. Still a fascinating post though!
I get such a tropical vibe from watching the video but then I saw how the city area looks nothing like a tropical area, its amazing! I've never been out of the US other than Mexico but watching all these videos really makes me want to travel more often! I love dancing, I don't know how to samba but it looks very beautiful and it shows a lot of passion for the culture.
ReplyDeleteOi Emi,
DeleteIt is amazing the diversity that we can see in this post; as you mentioned it the city doesn't look any tropical at all. I think people who live at the city are used to the climate and they don't think of it as a tropical place so its easiest for people to know who is a tourist and who isn't.
Rio is one of the most beautiful cities in the world (I've been to a few) because it has the ocean and the mountains. One thing that it makes this city not so pretty are the favelas (slums), which are a big part of this city. If you want to know more about it, this video is worth watching: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3BRTlHFpBU
ReplyDeleteGreat job Anali!
Every time I hear Rio de Janeiro, the first thing that comes to my mind is the carnival, music, drinks, dancing in the streets. A tradition that would remind me of my own would be Independence Day in Mexico. Every country has its own traditions and customs but Mexicans celebrate for everything. We live in a party for every occasion. I believe at some point of all us merge our culture into a fusion with food. The dish feijoada reminds me of dish that my grandma used to make.
ReplyDelete